Top headlines: Free health checkup in cos soon; data breach at BigBasket

From new labour laws promising free annual health checkups to markets poised for fresh all-time highs as investors cheer Biden win, here are top headlines this morning

New labour rules propose free annual health check-ups for staff above 40

Companies will soon have to conduct free annual health check-ups for all employees above the age of 40, according to the new labour rules being prepared by the Union government. “The employers shall arrange to conduct free of cost medical examination annually, i.e., within 90 days from the commencement of the calendar year, for every worker or employee who has completed 40 years of age,” stated the draft rules proposed by officials of the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment at a meeting held on October 24. Read More

BigBasket faces potential data breach; details of 20 mn users put on sale

Online grocery platform BigBasket has become the latest target of cyberattack in India. The company has faced a potential data breach with the information of over 20 million customers on the darkweb for sale, according to US-based cybersecurity intelligence firm Cyble. The data, being sold for $40,000, includes the full names, email IDs, password hashes (potentially hashed OTPs), PIN, contact numbers, addresses, dates of birth, location, and IP addresses of login, among other bits of information, says a Cyble blogpost. Read More

Markets poised for fresh all-time highs as investors cheer Biden win

Investors are likely to cheer the outcome of the US elections with Democrat Joe Biden winning the US Presidency, putting an end to months of uncertainty over who would run the White House. Analysts expect the US dollar to weaken, oil prices to moderate, and interest rates to remain low under the Biden administration, providing a tailwind for domestic equities.  Read More

The patriot act: Micromax calling on anti-China sentiment for resurgence

Rahul Sharma has transformed himself in the service of his brand. Till recently, the media knew the co-founder of domestic consumer goods maker Micromax as a suave, English-savvy executive. Now, as he tries to revive his company’s mobile handsets business on a patriotic, nationalist platform, he appears to have discovered a fondness for Hindi. In his latest interview to Business Standard, he spoke entirely in his mother-tongue. Read More

Indian IT services firms in wait-and-watch mode after Joe Biden's victory

Even though most associated with Indian IT services and technology seem to be heaving a sigh of relief with the liberal Democrats led by Joe Biden returning to power in the US, they are not celebrating as yet. Traditionally, Democrats are considered liberal in their approach compared to the heavily ‘nationalistic’ Republicans, which was evident under the regime of outgoing president Donald Trump. Read More

Cipla expects surge in demand for respiratory drugs, inhalers in winter

Cipla, the market leader in respiratory therapies, expects a surge in demand for respiratory drugs and inhalers during the coming months when the winter and an anticipated second Covid wave are likely to push up demand for these medicines. The firm enjoys a massive 68.7 per cent market share in the respiratory inhalation segment in India and has started working on aligning supplies so that there is no shortage of these critical medicines. Read More

Domestic drug market shows resilience, posts strong growth in October

The pandemic blues seem to be over for the domestic drug industry, which has shown strong resilience in the last three months by maintaining a growth momentum. In October, the Indian pharma market clocked a strong 9.6 per cent growth after growing by 4.5 per cent in September and 2.2 per cent in August. Read More

Apple India net profit jumps 253% to Rs 926 crore; operating revenue up 29%

After struggling to grow its handset sales during 2018, consumer technology giant Apple has finally turned around its India business. The marketer of popular smart devices like iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks has managed to grow its revenue and profits at a healthy rate during 2019-20. Annual filings, sourced from Tofler, show Apple India’s operating revenue stood at Rs 13,623 crore — 29 per cent higher than it had reported for 2018-19. Read More
 

Samvat 2077: Investors must look for safety first, tone down expectations

Small-cap indices have been the clear winners in Samvat 2076, so far, with double-digit returns, even as the benchmark indices struggled to deliver with returns under 3 per cent. This information, however, hides the fact that only two sectors — information technology and health care — were the clear outperformers with returns exceeding 40 per cent each. Hit by the pandemic, most other sectors ended up destroying value, delivering negative returns. Read More